They are the domesticated form of the house mouse and belong to a fascinating species
Here are ten interesting facts about the little rodents you might not have known...
Males are called 'bucks': Buck is the lesser-known name for male pet mice; usually they are simply referred to as 'male mice'.
The tail of a pet mouse is almost as long as its body: As well as this extraordinary length, it is characterised by its scale rings.
Pet mice sense the surface they’re walking on through their whiskers. Using their 'vibrissae', or whiskers, the animals scan their surroundings and are able to orient themselves even in darkness.
Pet mice are very sporty: Their activities include balancing, climbing, jumping and swimming.
Mice are clean, tidy and organised: In their underground 'apartments' they have special areas for sleeping, storing food and going to the toilet.
Mice are thieves: At least, if you take its name as a basis. Allegedly, the word 'mouse' is derived from the Sanskrit verb 'mū', which means "to steal".
Mickey Mouse was the world’s first animated mouse: His first movie was 'Steamboat Willie' which was premiered in 1928.
In 1997 the first mouse was cloned: 'Cumulina' lived to the ripe old age of two years and seven months (the equivalent of 95 human years).
'Three blind mice' – a nursery rhyme with a dark past: They were three Protestant loyalists accused of conspiring against England’s Queen Mary I (personified as the 'farmer's wife'). The men were burned at the stake.
Pet mice snack between 15-20 times a day!
That is why they love to live near inexhaustible paradises of food like the kitchen.
